Prairie Rose is a fitted beanie with a pretty leaf and floral motif. It is knit in traditional style, with no more than two colors per row. With no more than four stitches between colors, the simple pattern makes this a good first color work project.

The pattern sample is knit with Knit Picks Palette yarns, so I’ve also made my best estimation for similar colors in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift as it’s a traditional woolly Shetland yarn that’s also easily available.

While stranded knitting is traditionally done with fine woolly yarns, don’t be afraid to dive into your fingering yarn leftovers from socks and other projects. You’ll need less than 30g total of the flower and leaf colors, so it’s a good way to use precious bits of favorite colors.

You may be surprised at the pretty color combinations you come up with from a limited palette. I’ve also knit up this hat with handspun merino/silk and loved the way it turned out in my soft, plump yarn.